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Many worry that with so many children watching TV that dramatic play, or using your imagination, is dwindling in today’s kids. Too many rely on outside stimulus for entertainment. Creativity is important for many adults, and with this quality shrinking, it’s important to find a way to re-introduce kids to their imagination. How can this be done?
One way is by using dramatic play in schools, especially with kindergarteners. Most five-year-olds aren’t able to sit and pay attention for very long anyway. By using dramatic play, kids are able to basically play but are able to learn at the same time. For example, you could set up a situation where the kids run a restaurant. Each child is given a specific role in that situation such as server, manager, chef, patron, etc.
In each of the role, the children are given specific tasks. For example, the patron might need to take the total of the check and count out play money to pay for the bill. He or she will need to understand what money represents what and add up the totals in order to know what to pay. For older children, they could even be told to give a 15 percent tip and would have to figure out that amount.
There are a lot of principles that can be taught through dramatic play, but as long as it’s structured, student will be able to learn the information that the teacher is teaching the children. And yet it’s fun for the children as well.
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